Let’s talk about a couple of unusual things we observed this holiday season.
Skil Flip Drill at Lowe’s
Back in November, I cautioned about how online retailers’ aggregated reviews could be misleading. Amazon was showing a high ratings count for the newly-listed product, as it was lumped together with an older model cordless drill selling for half the price.
Earlier this month, we talked about the Skil Flip Drill’s poor sales stats at Lowe’s. It was available via this link, with the Lowe’s sales stats counter saying that only 200+ were purchased during the prior week encompassing Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.
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The week centered around Black Friday is huge with respect to tool sales, and 200+ purchases is a very small number.
I checked again today, and it’s gone – Lowe’s says the item is no longer sold there.
But then I did some digging.
There’s an entirely new and different page for the same product.
The model number is the same – DL6300D-11, and so is the item number – 5978213.
The only different is the URL:
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Old: https://www.lowes.com/pd/SKIL-PWR-CORE-12-Drill/5015240817
New: https://www.lowes.com/pd/SKIL-PWR-CORE-12-Drill/5015401921WHY? Why would Skil or Lowe’s do that? Why copy/paste a sales page for a product with no obvious meaningful changes?
The only difference I can see, aside from the tool getting a new URL and catalog ID, is that the sales counter now says “1k+ views last week,” rather than how many were purchased.
Was all this done to reset the on-page sales/views/in-carts counter? I cannot think of any other possible explanations – can you? Whatever the reason, it’s unusual, and I can see no customer benefits.
Neither Skil nor Lowe’s has responsive media contacts, and so there’s no one to ask.
Dewalt Cordless Snow Shovel at Home Depot
A few years ago I wrote about how an influencer marketing company contacted me just before Thanksgiving 2021, asking for a 5-star review for a tool listed at Home Depot. See: Possible Fake Reviews at Home Depot & Lowe’s.
The exact request was:
We are trying to boost a “Dewalt Professional 2 Amp Automotive Battery Charger & Maintainer.” We are asking [influencers] if they would be willing to leave a 5-star review on Home Depot’s website (Here) and post the charger as a story on IG. We will send you the automotive battery charger. Is this something you would be interested in helping [agency] with?
This company was known for arranging lucrative sponsorship partnerships, and a lot of influencers lined up to do this favor for them.
I brought it up to Dewalt, and the said:
This is a licensed product therefore we don’t handle the marketing for this SKU. This is an outside agency the licensee must be using to increase reviews. Totally up to you how you’d like to handle.
There’s a new issue with a different licensed product.
The new Dewalt cordless snow shovel, also a licensed product, recently launched at Home Depot, and it seemed to have reviews from the beginning.
Here are some excerpts from the early reviews:
5-stars: So yeah believe it or not we have no snow! Hopefully I’ll be able to find this review to edit it once I’m able to use it. But I’m so very thankful for this shovel. Praying it makes the job a little easier.
4-stars: We are so excited to use this this winter. No snow here yet so can’t really review it fully.
5-stars: I’m looking forward to putting it to the test this winter
5-stars: I’m so excited to see how this will make cleaning up snow so much easier and faster I’m so excited to try this out
4-stars: I used jt on a bunch of leaves in my backyard and it shoveled them very well. This should also work well with snow.
5-stars: I can’t wait to put it to work in a couple of weeks.
5-stars: We haven’t had snow or heavy yet but have token it out and practiced around in the backyard with it. We love it and can’t wait to full utilize it this winter!
5-stars: I have a large backyard and drive way and I’m so excited to see how this will make cleaning up snow so much easier and faster I’m so excited to try this out
4-stars: I cannot properly rate this product. We haven’t had any snow to try it out yet
Most of the reviews show boxes in living rooms, or the Dewalt cordless snow shovel assembled and leaning on indoors furniture.
There are other 5-star reviews from the first week of November where it’s not clear whether the reviewer even tested the cordless snow shovel or not.
It launched just about out the gate with a 5-star reviews that say nothing about how it actually works.
At this time, the cordless snow shovel has 39 ratings with an average of 3.5 stars. Here are some excerpts from “verified purchases only” user reviews:
2-stars: Shockingly poor performance. This was the first DeWalt tool I returned because it sucked.
1-star: I have to say this one is an epic fail on part of Dewalt… Tried it out on my front sidewalk that had about an inch of fluffy snow on it and could not even clear the fluffy snow
1-star: Dewalt has moved into the toy industry with this one
1-star: Would not throw snow just push. Tried multiple kinds of batteries but didn’t make a difference.
1-star: This ‘snow shovel’ is an absolute joke. I’ve never been disappointed in DeWalt, but here we are… This ‘machine’ clogs, freezes, and simply cannot clear more than 2 inches of fluff (despite being rated for 6 inches)
1-star: Did not meet expectation, just an expensive toy
What do you think the real average rating would look like if all of the “I’m excited to use it!” reviews were removed?
Judging from how “Husky Support” is answering some of the questions on the Home Depot product page, I believe that the cordless snow shovel is made by the same company that shop vacuums for Dewalt.
I caught that company shilling here last month (see: These are the Best Black Friday Shop Vac Deals), saying in a comment:
That Dewalt Stealthsonic deal is crazy good! A quiet vac sign me up!
It’s hard to trust marketers that think such tactics are okay.
These are Just 2 Products
Irregularities and maneuvering happen all the time, and they’ve been happening for a long time.
Skil (or Lowe’s) duplicating their cordless Flip Drill product listing is strange, and although I believe it could have been done to remove or reset the low sales figure counter, their motives remain unclear and unverified. But is it dishonest?
What about Dewalt’s licensed partner sending out review samples for a seasonal outdoors product, seemingly with a publishing deadline before it could even be tested?
That’s not on Dewalt. But with the 5-star review requests a few holiday seasons ago, a recent shill comment, and now early aggregated “reviews” skewing appearances on the Home Depot product page, I think SBD will have to review and maybe update their product review do’s and don’ts for licensed partners.
The… irregularities or maneuverings discussed above are fairly obvious. It makes one think about what kinds of shenanigans we’re not aware of.
The problem is in how easy it is to misinterpret what you’re seeing. A lot of people don’t read through product reviews anymore, they glance at average ratings.
Whether intentional or consequential, online reviews and descriptions can be misleading. We cannot change that. The only thing we can do is look at – and understands what we’re seeing.
Keep in mind that things can be misleading without being dishonest. For example, a quart container holds 100% more juice than a pint, whereas a pint holds 50% less juice than a quart.
Some Publications are Misleading You
The holiday season has brought out the worst in online publications, especially in the tech industry.
November 29th:
Since the beginning of Black Friday Week, the AirPods Pro 2 have seen their price steadily decline and reached a new record low for this Black Friday on Amazon. The price has dropped from $249 to $189, then to $169, and now sits at an incredible $153…
December 11th from the same digital media publication:
Apple’s Best-Selling AirPods Pro 2 Are at a New Record-Low Price for the Holidays; Amazon’s #1 bestselling buds are just $189.99 after a sudden price drop 2 weeks before the big day.
2 weeks ago, the same media site noted that the price was “an incredible $153.” Now, $189.99 is “a new record-low price?”
At best, the false claim is stemming from ignorance, with the author and any editors not knowing the price throughout the season, AND negligence, as no one there bothered to look it up. At worst, they’re lying to get more clicks and affiliate sales revenue.
Whether intentional or not, saying “new record-low price” when it’s not true is a lie, and one that benefits that publication at their readers’ expenses.
I bring this up because the Skil product page duplication and Dewalt licensed cordless snow blower review issues are unusual, and I thought they were worth discussing, but they’re not scandalous deceptions. As misleading as they might seem, there are those that will outright lie to you.
Josephus
Shenanigans! I tend to do a lot of research before buying things that can potentially injure me. Not quite as in-depth as your individual page notes however.
I use 3camels to research stuff and try my damndest not to buy things just because it’s a great price. If I don’t need it, the price doesn’t matter. I think I can, I think I can…
This year I picked up a couple things for working on/around the house. Most of which I had been watching long-term (or price checking comparables) and in some cases picked up “good enough” compromises. I did get that Dewalt 8 1/4 table saw earlier in the week as I don’t have room for a built out shop and it has to be stowable, as an example. Paired with the Keter work table that will also hold a miter saw if need be.
Then I go to watch videos on YouTube, “Look how easy this is!!” nevermind the fact that they’re using thousands of dollars in likely sponsored or product placed hardware. Time to figure it out!
bob
caveat emptor
Jronman
It is rampant on Scamazon and I don’t put much value into reviews anymore on there. Sponsored garbage plus fake reviews is not something I want. I used to think the more reviews the more accurate the average is. Can be in theory unless most of them are fake. Also a good point on the fan boy/girl customer. You should use what you bought before writing review. I suppose there could be a first impressions section and a long term review section but that won’t fix the fake reviews. It is a shame that it is spreading into other sites.
Josephus
Something like fakespot.com may help though personally I would only bother (researching that much) if it’s a major outlay.
From Amazon I’ve only bought one knockoff to test whether I would use the (much more) expensive actual item in the last five years. I try not to do this but I’d rather be $60 wrong than $300 if there’s no other way to get my hands on something. Couldn’t rent it.
Ross
So when you say that the fake reviews aren’t on DeWalt, an I missing something or you’re saying who they license their name out to is out of their control?
Stuart
In my experience, SBD has licensed products in certain categories, and such products are solely marketed by the licensed partners.
Sometimes those marketing partners do things that Dewalt 100% does NOT, such as hire influencer marketing firms that ask influencers to leave 5-star reviews at Home Depot, or in this case set up supplied-product influencer reviewers on a 3rd site that are then syndicated to Home Depot product pages.
Ross
Right, but the made the decision to license it to that company. And it sounds like they kind of know what they’re getting
Jason M
Dewalt will license their name out to just about anybody: see the USB phone cables in stores. It’s a cash cow for them and has helped their brand name recognition become what it is today. In some instances I really think it hurts the brand but when your core market share is getting gobbled up, gotta make the shareholders happy somehow.
IMO short term gain long term loss but who knows. Things like the battery jump pack and propane heater are nice products they might not have otherwise been able to produce.
TomD
It used to be you could be pretty safe – if you saw a Milwaukee baby shirt, it was probably licensed, same with a mug.
But if it was electrical, like the battery-topped USB charger, it was probably not licensed.
That has been blurred even with Team Red (they make mugs now, and clothes) but with Dewalt it’s really bad. They literally market Dewalt toys (and I doubt anyone thinks they’re actually made by Dewalt to their standards) but it certainly delutes the brand.
It’s really sad, too, because a high-quality brand can lend their name to a high-quality item in another market, if they do the research.
Stuart
Milwaukee workwear are not licensed, they’re likely owned products made by an OEM. The same with the Packout tumblers.
ross
I guess that’s what I’m getting at. DeWalt didn’t make the take reviews but if they’ve worked with this company before those fake reviews are absolutely on them
gregs
It’s a shame, Home Depot reviews used to be quite useful, but now there are more and more seemingly fake reviews. I was looking at some dap texture sprays, all the fake reviews were 4 or 5 stars with pictures of the can, not the actual result, followed by many 1 star reviews from apparently real customers.
MM
I’ve noticed that if you buy something from HD’s website they send Emails asking for reviews very shortly after your purchase. I’m sure doing that increases the quantity of reviews they get but it also lowers the quality of them. In my opinion hardly anybody would leave a review for a product they haven’t used yet unless someone is prompting them for that review.
A lot of companies will send emails prompting reviews, but some places are better about it than others. HD seems to be very quick.
Joe H
I get those review requests sometimes before the product would even have any chance to arrive at my door.
Jason M
Just got one for an order they cancelled on me.
TomD
Amazon has been doing this, and others are copying it. It’s getting really bad – half the reviews are “I’ve not received it yet, but I bought it so I guess … five stars?” and of course, nobody goes back and changes a review unless they’re _really mad_ about it.
eddiesky
Not just fake but Verified outside purchasers. Or lump reviews…even Amazon does this where you are searching for named-product and you find it…only to see the majority of the reviews aren’t for that “specific” product but some variant (25 piece set vs 75 piece set…).
I do trust some youtubers (aka StumpyNubs) but some tend to push hard on “family” owned businesses that really are using customers as the beta-testers (pointing finger at ISOtunes). Yes, I use ISOtunes but wish they had better product fit and finish. Yes, their customer service is great but I had a pair of FREE ISOtunes that were horrible and they made a revision and I missed out and sending back (my bad but I bought direct and wasn’t contacted to get this replacement?).
As a potential buyer, I have to spend time researching. Impulsive buying is bad. Thanks to ToolGuyd and other forums to consider.
PKS319
While this is not quite the topic of this post, I wonder why DeWalt would allow its name to go on a product (the cordless show shovel) that is so obviously absurd in concept and poor in execution. In the pro tool business reputation is really important, and many is the company (Porter Cable, Skil) that went from top rated to has been with lousy tools. So both the fake reviews and the whole concept of licensing out your name to a product in the same general product line (as opposed to – say – Dewalt scented candles) seems very badly concieved.
Rich
Knowing this now I can say it puts a hard-freeze on my trust in the DeWalt name. I’ve been buying a few of the XR tools this season and feel great about it, but all the other stuff that fits in the tool shed? Sceptical now.
(homeowner)
Stuart
It’s my understanding that only DX… model numbers are licensed.
Every so often Dewalt mobile accessor or Bluetooth headset products show up for review consideration, with no strings attached, no shilling, no weird retailer review patterns.
With the licensed chargers, they hired a 3rd party firm. So it was Dewalt’s licensed partner’s hired social media marketing firm that was making the sketchy requests for 5-star reviews.
In this case, again, it’s Dewalt’s licensed partner’s hiring of a 3rd party influencer reviews network that’s inflating the review count with garbage “can’t wait to try it” testimonials.
Dewalt is very adamant about disclosures, proper PPE, and avoiding things like anti-competitive statements.
I think they’re more trustworthy than many other tool brands.
That’s why I didn’t name-drop when I posted about request for a review of the charger, because I don’t see that as a Dewalt issue, but their licensed partner and the influencer marketing firm.
Even then, sometimes it’s one person at a company or firm making bad decisions because the pressure is on them for results.
Rich
Good to know…excellent. Thanks!
Goodie
Are these licensing deals worth enough to risk the reputation of the brand? What’s the value to shareholders associated with these licensing deals?
Between this sort oflow quality licensed tool, bad marketing behavior and the ethical manufacturing concerns around apparel, it seems that DeWalt (in this case) and Milwaukee (potentially in the instance of the gloves you mentioned in Aigust) have a lot to lose with these license deals.
At first glance, it doesn’t seem worthwhile to lend their good name to these questionable entities.
Mopar
The DX thing explains a lot. I recently grabbed the Dewalt wearable bluetooth speaker for a fair price ($35), I like to go to a manufacturer’s website and grab a pdf of the instruction manual, which I keep organized on my computer. Besides easier than saving all the paper copies, it’s usually easier to read than those tiny sheets folded up like an old map. Anyway, when I went to do that for this little speaker (DXMA1901158), it wasn’t listed on the Dewalt website, but it is sold thru enough legit retailers that I was pretty sure it wasn’t just a fake product. For some reason, I guess because I still thought of it as a tool (mainly so I could leave my phone safely nearby while working and answer a call, not really for music), it never even crossed my mind that is was just a licensed product. Like John Deere and Cat does with everything from boots to scented candles.
Stuart
I believe they strictly vet the products themselves.
The marketing is fully in the licensee’s control. I have been told as such by their licensed partners over the years as well, and also by Dewalt when I asked about the request for 5-star reviews.
It’s surprising because Dewalt has extremely stringent policies when it comes to things like review and sponsorship arrangements.
Basically, I don’t think they’re aware, and nobody has been bringing this to their attention.
Jared
I knew Dewalt licensed the brand name for certain products – I didn’t know they would license it for cordless power tools. That seems like too great a risk to their core brand if someone releases “Dewalt” tools that suck – which is sounds like someone did with this snow shovel.
If they vet products to ensure they’re up to par – sure, that could work. But it sounds like they weren’t paying close attention this time.
I too would have assumed a Dewalt-branded cordless shovel must be a pro-grade tool. If you trick the consumer it might sell a tool, but it also erodes that reflexive trust in the brand. You want people to choose Dewalt tools because they KNOW it’s good, without needing to check.
Rob G Mann
I think you’re right about that DeWalt may not be aware. And by “unaware” I mean by the “higher ups.”
I work in the legal department of a large multi billion dollar company that you’ve likely heard the name of (NOT in the tool industry). We VERY jealously guard our reputation and rarely (if ever) license our name out.
Any time we do collaborative development or marketing with another company, the appendices on the contracts about all the policies and procedures of ours that the other party must follow are phone book sized. The contracts typically give us the right to terminate the relationship if they are not strictly adhered to because we never want anything untoward happening under our name.
I suspect that SBD has very similar requirements for their licensees. I’d even go as far as to predict that even if there are not specific requirements concerning the marketing practices of their licensees, there are general clauses prohibiting any actions or behaviors that would reflect badly upon or lessen the DeWalt name.
If all this happens under the radar, then “DeWalt” probably wont care because it hasn’t been enough of a problem for the “higher ups” to even become aware of. BUT…, if this became a “thing” and people started talking about it, the “higher ups” WILL get wind of it and you’ll see this licensee terminated in a heart beat.
TomD
Companies license tools all the time, the question is whether they stand behind it or just throw up their hands as Dewalt is doing here.
Normally they license the technology, but sometimes you can see that they licensed the entire tool and have them manufactured for them, but they stand behind it and otherwise you’d never know it wasn’t built by “the big brand”.
This sounds … sadly like that’s not the case here and they’re really watering down the brand.
Rich
I definately read the review here (first stop in the tool research path)
But I only read bad reviews if I read any at all at Scamazon (haha). Got fed-up with their whole dynamic pricing schtick so I try to buy elsewhere first. (cancelled my Prime membership, too)
Frank D
It is a shame the big box stores are heavily clouded with those reviews, and I hate all the sponsored reviews, no context ratings they pull in from other sites, as well as the raffle reviews a la Ryobi, review for a chance to win 5k 10k, many to most of which meaningless, just bought it, Ryobi is the best, husband loves it, …
As a consumer, I was approached again last week to review a selection of products favorably on Amazon, and then get a refund check for the purchase price after providing the link to my 5 star Amazon review. I get those from time to time, after having an issue with a product, sorting it out with support, then was offered to test the revision of the product, … and now I am on the periphery of some review network. I would not mind reviewing products, tools, … objectively. But not in that format, which is not ethical and violates tos rules.
Sam
I’ve written hundreds of true honest reviews on Amazon and pay for all my stuff. I received a cryptic threatening message from Amazon my reviews are in violation of policy and o better stop. So I stopped. I’m guessing it was because some seller didn’t appreciate an honest review. So I’m done. I shop Walmart a lot more now.
Jim Felt
I too had posted a couple of hundred mostly positive Reviews on Amazon over the years, then mysteriously to me, was told I had unusual, or done such crap, “activity” and could no longer post Reviews.
They saved me a lot of time trying to be helpful with their anonymous complaint.
I still order nearly daily from them for primarily business use. Oh well.
Frank D
I still do some AMZ reviews, in little batches here and there. A few years ago, they did pull one of my negative reviews – and – blocked me from leaving another review for the product. In truth it was a bit long winded. But I was a verified purchaser, the product did not live up to its claims, … — long forgotten what it actually was — Anyhow. The complaint by the seller against me and getting blocked from that product page surprised me.
TomD
This is the problem with review sites in general; either they come down extremely hard on the side of the reviewers, or the bad companies will learn how to game the system. For them, it’s a job, for you it’s a one-off comment.
JR Ramos
I’ve had a few deleted and one seller blocked me from posting again – bizarre because that one was a 5-star review that pointed out a benefit that wasn’t clearly shown in their product computer images and a provided three really good closeups (end mills). I had one deleted over some Bessey c-clamps recently…shared a photo showing two sizes of deep clamps along with similar capacity standard body clamps from Adjustable/Pony…and Amazon said that was against their community rules. I tried to email with them for two of those deleted reviews and it was like talking to idiots, like they did not comprehend English possibly (probably not AI bots, though). I review less and less these days but I contributed a lot of helpful info, good and bad. It’s ironic though, because they allow a great many truly poor reviews that are clearly in violation of their rules. They tried to crack down on mentions of sellers and/or COO for a time but I think they gave up on that one.
I’ve been approached by a few shady sellers for the review games…reported all of them to Amazon. I can’t stand that tactic. I had some flashlight manufacturers do the same (typical in that world) but rather than report them and because I knew two of the reps, I just contacted them elsewhere and told them it was putting their stores at risk…I think they both stopped that but still do similar “promo/free/send us the review” offers elsewhere, which is fine.
jules rosen
Usually the TOs says you cannot compare to something else by brand. The next time just talk about the short comings
Everett
First off thank you Stuart for giving what I personally feel (as well as others obviously)are in-depth honest reviews and quick to call bs when you see it. TG really is my best tool for smarter shopping
Bill
Being in a review program often puts the reviewer in an awkward spot. As a Vine reviewer, I need to keep a rolling percentage of products reviewed. As many of those examples did, I make sure I’m honest about if I’ve been able to use the product at all, or just a little bit. I tend to avoid ordering seasonal things out of season. But many items I request and have immediate use for still get light usage prior to needing to do a review.
As a side note, while I technically get the items for free from Amazon, they get reported on a 1099 usually at full retail without the usual coupons and discounts applied and count as income on my taxes. They’re not free and many items are barely a good deal when you compare the tax liability to the usual real selling price.
As a shopper, I typically only look at the lower star reviews. I don’t trust 5 star reviews. I want to see what issues people had (and if they’re a commonly reported issue) and decide if those would be an issue for me or not.
Tdot77
It’s unfortunate but it’s the way it is nowadays. They all do it…some more than others. I always see the HDepot ‘Vine’ ‘reviews’ as just a free tool for a good 5 star review exchange! Amazon does the same thing ‘free item in exchange for a [good] review’. It’s probably not explicitly written but implied that they’ll give a 5 star review in exchange for an item they get to keep. “Buying reviews”? Pretty much! I always look at the reviews to determine how good or bad the thing is – it’s what I love most about Amazon platform. It’s works very well to sell stuff, that’s why literally every site has reviews on it now! But you have to use judgement when doing so to wade through the bs. There’s the few customers that broke it using it the complete wrong way so they say ‘it’s terrible’, ‘don’t buy’, ‘it’s trash’, ‘the worst ever’, then there’s the others previously discussed above on the flip side. Read enough and you can tell the real from the fakes! Don’t go by the first 3 or 5 reviews listed right at the bottom of the page that are hand picked and put there on purpose, go through the ‘All Reviews’ to sort through the crap and the fakes to see the real honest reviews which are usually very obvious!
Adam
I commented to someone that DeWalt will slap their name on anything when looking at something at Home Depot, that I was surprised to see them venturing into. Guess they literally do slap it on… and don’t even look at what they are slapping it on.
jules rosen
And licensing what most companies care about is what’s the total of money you’re going to give us and I’ve never heard of anyone actually looking at quality levels or who you going to sell it to
Joren
Any hints to decode what’s a Dewalt product vs a marketed as product?
Does the support / parts website allow for the same level of part granularity?
Big Richard
If the model number starts with DX it is a licensed product. Pretty straight forward. The licensed tools’ warranty and spare parts goes thorough the manufacturer, not DeWalt. SBD Servicenet lists very few, if any of the licensed products.
Doresoom
Those Home Depot “collected as a promotion” type of reviews are a big reason I quit their Seeds program years ago. Their required time limit on reviews would often make it difficult to review the tools thoroughly. I saw many fellow Seeds reviewers with pictures of items taken right out of the box and often admitting they had no idea how to use the tools. I felt like it hurt my credibility to even be associated with such low quality reviews even if I was providing good reviews myself.
Big Richard
Home Depot needs an option to filter out and not view the paid Seed reviews, and amazon needs an option to not see the paid Vine reviews. They are beyond useless. As you said, people take pictures of the item right out of the box, and then just reword the product description as their review, because often times they have no idea or use for whatever that tool may be. But they still give it 5 stars because it looks well made. I can only assume the majority of them then sell that free sample.
Doresoom
Yeah, I assumed they were selling the samples too. Milwaukee would put specialty plumbing tools in there that have MRSPs of $1000-2000+. Then some grandma would get it, put up a 5 star review while sometimes copy and pasting the product listing bullet points, and then probably sell it afterward.
The terms of the Seeds program were that you couldn’t sell or give away any of the items. If you no longer wanted them you were supposed to destroy them. I followed the terms but I sincerely doubt most other people did.
Andrew
This post and your recent editorial, What Grinds my Tool Gears made me remember a lot of reporting a few years ago about companies that would make new SKU’s for Black Friday to “mark down” televisions and other high end electronics by making models that were of poorer quality. A lot of the lowest ever price deals and Black Friday exclusive rollouts on some tools make me think about that too.
Have you ever considered that tool companies could be cutting corners on quality on known products to make price cuts or to increase throughput?
Stuart
Sourcing CAN change for Black Friday deals, and I’ve assumed it’s a volume consideration.
But in recent years tool brands have mostly moved away from “let’s offer cheaper stuff for Black Friday” strategies.
TomD
The more common reason to do this is to avoid having to price match. If item X is sold at Target and Walmart, they may have to price match each other and watch what they’re doing (watch LEGO sets for great examples of this).
But if they’re big enough, they can get a “exclusive” product which may be very similar but not identical to ones sold at other stores, and never have to price match it.
This is addition to making SKUs that seem similar but are missing things like optional accessories, etc (though more common is adding one to make it look “a better deal”).
Theo.
I always sort by Recent reviews rather than Featured. If there are any shenanigans, the earlier reviews will reflect those “encouraged”, “haven’t used it yet” and other useless reviews. The recent reviews, particularly if the item has been out for a while, will be much more relevant. It’s amazing how many reviews start out positive but as time goes on they get more “honest”. Also sorting and reading the 1 star reviews is a good indicator of whether I can live with the faults or if they are a deal-breaker.
Frank D
I very often try to dig for the newest reviews and negative ones as well, as they will often be from somebody who will have used it for a longer time and what may be inherent flaws.
Doesn’t always work, some people have a fit about shipping damage, delays, etc … But a large number of times I have skipped something after digging through the reviews, past the vines / incentivized. Or simply skipped the product because all it has was the 5 star incentivized ones.
jamanjeval
Stuart, for future reviews or announcements would you add a disclosure if the product is made by the brand or if it is a licensed product? If they refuse to answer, then just state that.
Stuart
I rarely work with licensed products.
When I do work with brand-adjacent companies, it’s generally preferred to only talk about the brand.
That goes for licensing or OEM.
For example, we don’t talk about Keter in the context of Ridgid tool boxes, we talk about Ridgid.
Everyone tends to prefer this.
Saying “brand XYZ doesn’t really make this product” isn’t as helpful as you might think, because a lot of brands don’t make all of their products.
I do mention it when relevant. For example, Channellock adjustable wrenches are made by Irega. That’s interesting. Their screwdrivers are made by a different company, and it’s of academic interest but not relevant to most discussions about the tools.
It’s interesting to talk about how Great Star seems to be making Bosch hand tools. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/bosch-pliers-wrench-sk-tools-similarities/%3C/a%3E But if Bosch were to send over those tools, it wouldn’t be appropriate or well-received to bring up Great Star, except maybe in comments should a reader ask.
Dewalt duct tape is licensed – https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/dewalt-duct-tape/%3C/a%3E .
Their Concealer safety goggles are made by Radians (similra to the Cloak) https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DPG82-11-DPG82-11CTR-Concealer-Anti-Fog/dp/B01A12J3GI/?tag=toolguyd-20 and it’s not clear whether that’s an OEM relationship or licensing.
Let’s say a brand launches new hard hats. In such a post, is it relevant to discuss the sourcing?
It gets messy, and in my opinion unnecessary, to apply hard rules to something like this. If it’s significant or interesting, sure. But if sourcing doesn’t come up naturally, there’s not much benefit in forcing it.
TomD
I think things like the DX-category of tools is something to bring up and/or mention now and then; I had absolutely no idea that bright yellow tools that took Dewalt batteries and had a Dewalt logo might not be … Dewalt tools in a significant way.
Now I’m giving my pile of red tools the side-eye and wondering if any of them wouldn’t be supported …
jamanjeval
I’m not so concerned if brand “D” sells something made by brand “X” but is branded as brand “D”. If it’s branded ad brand “D”, brand “D” sells and supports it, I consider it brand “D”
What I’m gettin at is if brand “X” sells a product but licenses the name of brand “D” to represent it as a product of brand “D” Brand “D” doesn’t handle support for the product because its actually brand “X” who is selling it, under license, as brand “D”.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding what is going on here with the DeWault tool…
Stuart
Ah. Maybe? It really depends on the situation. That seems like a fringe occurrence. We talk about such things when it comes up. e.g. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/ridgid-next-tools-home-depot-lsa/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
DC
No worries, there are people out there that will buy these. More so now that you mentioned them Stuart, LOL.
TomD
What’s weird about the Lowe’s situation is that absolutely none of those numbers are the UPC, and they don’t have a picture of the box at all, just a bad render.
If I were closer to a store, I might bother poking my head in to see what the numbers on the shelf/box were.
ColeTrain
The difference between the Skil is that the second one is bundled with a 12 volt battery and not the 20 v. Maybe they made the new part number to cover up the fake review shenanigans? I just saw one sitting at my Lowe’s in the 12 volt section but didn’t care to peek at the part number
Stuart
No…?
Amazon: SKIL Brushless 12V/20V Flip Drill, 20V Kit Including 2.0 Ah USB-C
Lowe’s Link 1: Kit includes the 12V/20V brushless flip drill, 12V 2.0Ah USB-C battery…
Lowe’s Link 2: Kit includes the 12V/20V brushless flip drill, 12V 2.0Ah USB-C battery…
Hmm.
Amazon model number: DL6300D-11
Lowe’s model number: DL6300D-12
Amazon’s kit comes with a 20V battery, and both Lowe’s pages show and advertise a kit with a 12V battery.
Side note, I guess that’s why the Amazon kit is selling for $59 and the Lowe’s kit for $80.
I didn’t even notice that, that Amazon and Lowe’s kits are different with different batteries. That’s so unusual.
Oh boy, it now says “in 100+ carts last week.”
It looks like they’re having a lot of trouble selling this tool.
ElectroAtletico
caveat emptor
Kris Haggerty
Amazon apparently sends people free products through their Vine program and at least it’s noted so you know to ignore those reviews, but it’s a deceptive free product for 5 stars practice that defeats the purpose of reviews.
As an aside, I love my stealth sonic.